In the manufacture of stainless steel cutlery items, such as knives, forks and spoons, the desired shape, which may be patterned, first is punched or die cut from a stainless steel sheet, and the resulting item is ground, polished and buffed to remove sharp edges and provide a finish of desired lustre (reflectivity).
The grinding, polishing and buffing operations are carried out by hand, and thus are time consuming, tedious and labour intensive. As a direct result, the market place is dominated by stainless steel cutlery products manufactured in oriental countries where there is an abundance of cheap labour.